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What don’t you know that could hurt you?

08.28.2018 by Donna Wright //

This month we’re looking at protection provided to us when we recognize the truth, rather than hide in darkness and denial. When we’re too afraid to face truth, the hidden things can (and do) hurt us. We’re honored here at Facets of Faith to have Donna Wright share a personal and vulnerable piece of her story. We pray God uses it powerfully in your life as you read it, or in the life of someone you know and love as you share it with him or her. Thank you, Donna, for your contribution to this month’s topic. More importantly, thank you for your courage to share. We know God will honor your bravery and bless you. We also know He will use your piece to minister to His kids’ hearts and minds. Without further ado, here’s Donna’s story.

Have you ever wondered how what you don’t know could hurt you?  I have. I was recently asked that very question to write this article for Facets of Faith. So I began to pray about it and ask God what was that something I don’t know that could hurt me? I thought during this time of so many people committing suicide, not knowing the truth was something that could hurt you.

What You Don't Know (yellow), GuestAll my life, almost 60 years, I have battled with this thought in my head that I am unworthy. I am no good. I do not belong here. No one cares whether I live or die. If I had chosen to believe this about myself, I would not be here today.  I would have taken my life when these thoughts started to attack my brain around the time I turned 13.

I met fear when I was just a small child. I do not know the exact date and time, just that I grew up with a daddy that drank too much alcohol. A daddy that came home late at night and yelled and screamed and beat my mommy.  My child’s heart disappeared before I was ten years old. I accepted a responsibility that was not mine to take on. I had to be the protector of my little brother and sister as we huddled together in our bed and listened to the drunken rages of a man who terrorized us night after night.

This fear has stayed a close friend most of my life. When I first heard the song Fear is a Liar by Zach Williams, I praised God because that song describes the truth about fear.

God says in His word “Do not be afraid” or “Fear not” 103 times in the King James Version. This means to me that this is a truth. This truth triumphs over whatever fear has to say to me. So as I pondered this thought more and thought about my life and how it was, I learned “The Truth” around age 21. I was battling fear of the future─what and who I would become. I feared no one loved me, no one cared, and I had no hope.  There was no point in going on. Yet “The Truth” would not let me go on in unbelief. The Lord sent a couple to my house who shared their story with me, how they had met the Lord Jesus Christ, how He loved them, and how He died on a cross just for them.  He provided a hope and a future I could believe in─if only I would ask Him to come into my life and forgive me.

That very night I prayed to a God I had heard about in Sunday school, a God who a pastor dedicated me to when I was an infant, a God who declares in His word He would “never leave me nor forsake me” Deuteronomy 31:6  I made a choice that night to listen to a new voice, not the one of fear anymore, but the word of God. Had I not chosen that night to follow Jesus and instead chosen to follow fear, I would have taken my life right then and there. End of the story!

However, I did not let fear win that night. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I praise God for His Son who died on a cross for each of us so that “The Truth” now lives in me. By giving access to Jesus, He gave the Holy Spirit to live in me. I am never alone.  I no longer fight the battle against fear alone. I have the Holy Spirit who tells me I am victorious. No matter what fear has to say, no matter what the circumstances, I now belong to Jesus Christ.

My story continues, I went on in life to get married, have three children and now have grandchildren.  The story of my life has not been easy or pleasant at times. God does not promise that we will not have trials and tribulations in life, but that we will for His sake.   In Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired.” 

I am so grateful to our God that I learned the truth.  I pray for all our youth and for those who have not found this truth. The Lord brings workers into the field for the harvest is ripe. We need to share with everyone there is hope for a future, and life is worth living. Fear lurks trying to take as many people as it can, telling men, woman and children there is no hope. Fear tells them they are unworthy to be on this earth, there is a better way if they die. I am here to tell you that is a LIE. Fear is a liar! There is always hope. There is always acceptance. There is always love in God the Father of us all! John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.

Join the conversation over at Facets of Faith. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

Categories // Guest Perspectives, Truth and Denial Tags // addiction, fear, hope, lies, Salvation, Suicide, truth

Truth, Lies, Amnesia, and a River in Egypt?

08.14.2018 by Jennifer Howe //

Friends, this month’s topic seems to pierce my (Jennifer) heart. Truth is a funny thing. Some of us speak it absolutely and unapologetically every time. The culture seems to believe it can be “flexible” or “situational.” Some desperately seek it, hoping to find a solid foundation for life. Many of us hope it never catches up to us after an ugly slice of life. (Been there and done that.) Truth can be terribly hard to embrace. It’s so—permanent and unchanging; and it’s often in conflict with one little word that is not a river in Egypt. So, in order to step into truth, we’ve got to step out of denial. Truth and reality are two tightly-twisted strands in the thread of a healthy life.

Truth is, what we don’t know or what we choose to ignore can hurt us. And that’s why I wanted to write a sort of open letter to your heart (and mine!).

What You Don't Know (pink), J. Howe

Dear One—

Once upon a time life was amazing. Daddy-God created our reality with a word. Light and dark were separated. Water was given boundaries. Solid ground waited to be explored. Green things grew. Critters began to breathe and live the critter life. Man. Woman. Beautiful identity. Perfect unity in a perfect world.

Then it got complicated. Brokenness.

For thousands of years your Daddy-God has been speaking into and to creation. He’s still speaking to you today. Do you believe that? Many of His children suffer from something like amnesia after a head-on collision with the brokenness in life. Because you are so dearly loved, this letter was written just for you.

Truth for Lies
Once the truth was widely known and accepted—truth told you who you are, why you are here, and where your life was going. But you (you and everybody) “exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25 NIV). Sweet heart, what preoccupies your mind, interests, passions, or activity? Truth? Lies? A created thing? A caricature of who you were meant to be? Is it your Creator, Daddy-God?

Maybe you suffer from amnesia, or maybe the diagnosis is more serious. Get gut-level honest; find out what’s in that heart of yours. Lay your bare heart out for serious examination because it matters. Step out of denial because it’s deadly. Eternally so.

[F]or those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. Romans 2:8 NIV

Your Daddy-God hates self-seeking behavior, evil, and lies—meeting all of that with a strong response, period. Now you should meet lies and “flexible truth” with the strength of real truth. Truth can be known, and it obliterates denial, lies, and darkness. There is freedom in truth. Take it!

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Fr-ee-ee-ee-dom!
You are offered amazing freedom in truth. You have also been offered everything you need to know and obey the truth. Take Jesus up on the offer!

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:13

You can receive the Spirit of truth. Leave the river of denial and stand on solid truth ground. You’ll have power to walk away from “shameful secret things…deceit…and distorting God’s message,” and many people will be receptive to “an open display of truth” (2 Corinthians 4:2 CSB).

It’s all about Love
Would you believe strychnine is superfood designed to improve quality of life? (Ask any rat about that!) Would you allow someone else to believe it? Of course not.

You know some truth right now. You’re responsible for that. And you’re responsible to yourself and others. Don’t look at this world on fire and play your tiny violin for the people in chaos. That would be cruel. Downright evil. That’s not love.

Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy; is not boastful; is not conceited; does not act improperly; is not selfish; is not provoked; does not keep a record of wrongs; finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (emphasis added)

Sweet heart, receive truth eagerly and speak it lovingly. Receive it because your life depends on it. Speak truth because your life and others’ depends on it.

Truth may not feel warm and fuzzy, but receive it and speak it anyway.

You may quake in your cute, impractical, form-over-function shoes. Receive it and speak it anyway.

Denial demands you paddle harder on the river, but it never changes the truth. Receive it and speak it anyway.

Your Daddy-God is truth. Jesus is the truth that reunites the children of God with their Father. The Spirit of truth will fill, teach, and lead you. Receive and speak that truth.

You are loved. Truth!

~Your Daddy-God

Sweet friend, is truth in your life muddied and dead on denial’s riverbank? When do you want to step out of that denial?

Which truths have you “forgotten” in the middle of this hard life? Do you know who your Daddy-God says you are? (Maybe start with that truth.)

Which truths do you most need to embrace more than anything right now? Does it start with embracing Jesus, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6)? That and repentance are the foundation for everything else.

Thanks for reading along, friend. I hope this letter speaks to you. It speaks more loudly to me than you know. Share your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook Page. As always, the Facets love when our readers share!

Love you, Dear One.

Signature, Jennifer Howe

Categories // Faith, Jennifer Howe's Perspective, Truth and Denial Tags // amnesia, denial, Facets of Faith, God's love, lies, reality, truth

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